Experts polled by Bloomberg expected the so-called non-farm payroll numbers to show an increase of just 235,000 jobs.

The stronger than expected job growth brought down the unemployment rate from 5.7pc to 5.5pc, falling further than the 5.6pc anticipated by economists.

The S&P 500 index lost close to 0.4pc of its value as the market opened, reflecting fears that an early increase in interest rates could depress the economy.

Central bank watchers believe that the Federal Reserve could now raise its rates as early as this June, the first increase since the financial crisis.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics said that the report was “strong everywhere except wages, but that’s just a matter of time”.

Earnings rose by just 2pc in February compared with the same month a year earlier. “It is not reasonable to assume such sluggish wage growth will persist much longer,” Mr Shepherdson said.

The dollar rose above €0.92 on the news, as investors bet that the strong labour market data could push the Federal Reserve towards raising its rates.

While the Federal Reserve is finally looking to increase its rates, its eurozone equivalent has begun to aggressively loosen policy in an attempt to avert a possible deflationary spiral.

The European Central Bank will begin bond purchases on Monday as the currency bloc has faced three consecutive months of negative inflation. Anticipation of the stimulus scheme has weighed on the euro, leading some analysts to speculate that the US and European currencies could hit parity.

Unemployment has now fallen close to the top end of the Federal Reserve's own estimate of the natural rate of unemployment, at 5.2pc to 5.5pc.